Know your ‘why’, farmers told
Beef and Lamb Taranaki: Speakers at event discuss onfarm topics and give health advice, writes
FYou need to have a vision, benchmark where you are, build a strong team . . . and have the courage to lead
armers got off the farm, out of their gumboots and into the Inglewood TET Stadium for a mid-winter dinner. Around 60 people packed the function room for the dinner hosted by Beef and Lamb Taranaki.
As well as eating good food, farmers also heard from four speakers during the evening, who discussed a range of topics to help on the farm, and also about looking after your health.
The theme of the dinner was understanding your “why”, and farm management consultant and director Greg Sheppard opened the evening by giving farmers tips on how to understand their why.
“Part of getting to know your why is taking stock of where you are now. I hope you go away from this event and talk to the people you love and share together so you can work together.”
He said without the support of the sponsors the event wouldn’t be possible.
“We have a lot of people to thank for making this evening possible.”
Dr Campbell White, a consultant physician and gastroenterologist at Taranaki Base Hospital, was invited to speak at the event about bowel cancer.
He said bowel cancer is a hidden type of disease, as people can feel embarrassed.
“People try not to think of the workings of their body but it’s something we need to bring to the forefront and pay attention to.”
He said bowel cancer was a big killer in New Zealand.
“The amount of people who die from bowel cancer in our country is the number of people who die from prostate and breast cancer combined.”
Despite the statistic, he said if it’s caught early enough, people had a good survival rate.
“People don’t need to be embarrassed to talk about their symptoms, and need to speak up instead, as it could save their lives.”
Dr Campbell said a screening programme had started in Taranaki, with people between the ages of 60-75 receiving an at-home test kit.
“My advice would be to use it.
Nationwide, we already know about 1300 people’s lives were saved from the screening project and we will see similar benefits here.”
One person from the audience said the talk was enlightening and that the previous midwinter event where Dr Giri Raj spoke about melanoma shows the importance of people being educated on diseases.
“After listening to Dr Giri my daughter and two sons had three growths removed. I believe hearing about melanoma helped save them. These talks are beneficial to the community.”
Business development manager for Schurr and Ireland Accountants Nick Lawn, who grew up in Taranaki, also spoke at the event.
“The thing I love about the sheep and beef community is the quality of people, you meet some really awesome people.”
He discussed the fast-moving nature of rising costs and how that is a concern for the farming community.
“In times like this, when things are highly volatile you need to manage your business at a close range to remain agile.”
He gave the audience some tips including writing down a brief annual plan and budget, noting what needs to be done in the business and finding someone to mentor and check in during tough times.
“These are key to remaining successful in these hard times.”
The final speaker was Mark Chrystall, who travelled from Taihape to speak at the event.
He said it was a pleasure to be invited to speak and to share his story about the business he owns with Richard Chrystall and Robert Collier.
“We like to think of our business as a hybrid model. It provides the benefits of a family farm but in a corporate way.”
He said the important factors to running a business were having a team environment and communicating with staff, and also to support the community you live in.
“Community is a big thing to me and you have to have a vision as a community so you know where things are going for the community.”
Mark said a key aspect of knowing your why was to understand challenges and threats, and ways to overcome them.
“This is where communication comes in. You need to have a vision, benchmark where you are, build a strong team, be flexible and have the courage to lead.”
He also said attending events like these was important.
“It’s good to get off the farm and communicate with like-minded people.”